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WELL BY NOW WE ALL HAD OUR FILL OF THE FANTASTIC OFFSHORE FISHING THIS PAST SEASON–YELLOWFIN TUNA, DORADO, YELLOWTAIL, SKIPJACK TUNA, WAHOO AND MARLIN. HOWEVER, THERE WERE MANY DAYS WHEN THE INSHORE FISHING WAS EQUALLY AS ACTION-PACKED AND ENJOYABLE. THIS CONTINUES TO BE THE CASE AS OUR MOST RECENT CHARTERS EXPERIENCED OUTSTANDING CALICO BASS FISHING ALONG WITH BONITO, SHEEPHEAD AND A FEW YELLOWTAIL WE’VE BEEN CATCHING LIMITS OR NEAR LIMITS OF CALICO AND SAND BASS AND RELEASING LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF SHORT FISH LESS THAN 14 INCHES.. THE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES WERE 65 TO 67°. SUNDAY AND MONDAY WERE VERY WINDY DAYS AND WE WILL NEED TO SEE WHETHER THIS WILL COOL DOWN THE SURFACE TEMPERATURES OR NOT.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND EL NIÑO IS STILL DEVELOPING AND VERY WELL MAY PUSH MORE O OUR LOCAL AREAS THIS WINTER, NEXT SPRING AND SUMMER. DURING THE COOLER WATER MONTHS ROCKFISH CAN ALSO BE TARGETED WITH VERY GOOD RESULTS POSSIBLE. THE ENDLESS SUMMER CONTINUES!

El Nino continues to bring us some great fishing gifts this summer! Inshore we’ve had some outstanding calico bass and sand bass fishing along with bonito, barracuda and some very large yellow tail. Venturing further offshore we’ve had some great days catching yellowfin tuna from 12 to 70 pounds, a few nice Dorado and some more yellowtail. The best maybe yet to come as it appears a greater volume of fish is building just below the border. September and October may turn out to be the most productive months of all.

15 ANGLERS ( SIX DADS AND THEIR 10 SONS RANGING IN AGE FROM 8 TO 12 YEARS) ON A LOCAL THREE-QUARTER DAY, OFF SHORE, PRIATE CHARTER CAUGHT 35 YELLOWFIN TUNA FROM 22 TO 32 POUNDS! WE MADE ONE CONTINUOUS SIX-HOUR DRIFT AND CAUGHT FISH THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DRIFT. WE ALSO HAD 2 HAMMERHEAD SHARKS TAKE SOME OF OUR FISH. IT WAS TRULY A GREAT DAY OF SPORTFISHING ON THE SEA STAR. THE KIDS REALLY HAD A GREAT TIME AND PULLED ON SOME BIG FISH. I THINK THEY WILL BE REMEMBERING THIS TRIP FOR A LONG TIME AS WILL THEIR DADS.

Over the past four weeks a great transformation has occurred throughout the local Southern California ocean area. It is safe to say that El Niño has arrived along with its cousin “The blob”. Sea surface temperatures have risen dramatically and are now at 70 to 75°! The high sea surface temperatures have opened the door for tropical pelagic species to migrate into our local waters. We are currently seeing and catching bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail and a few dorado in the offshore waters from 5 to 25 miles from the mainland coast. The inshore fishing along the kelp beds and rocky reef areas has been equally impressive. With outstanding catches of calico bass, sand bass and yellowtail (from 5 to 30lbs.). We have also hooked, fought, brought alongside, photographed and released alive and well many very large giant black Seabass from 75 to 200 pounds. We have landed some large soupfin sharks and unusual seven gill sharks ( which we also released alive and well). We have seen numerous large hammerhead sharks which are definite indicators of abnormally warm sea surface temperatures. We have observed, but not yet hooked, some very large bluefin tuna from 100 to 200 pounds as close as 5 miles from Oceanside Harbor!

It is my professional opinion this great fishing is just the very beginning of an exceptional season in Southern California. We most likely will see greater numbers of these highly migratory tropical fish moving into our local waters. The inshore fishing will continue to be outstanding because of the elevated sea surface temperatures.

If there are no major upwelling’s this exceptional fishing and high sea surface temperatures may will last until Thanksgiving! As a result, the Sea Star’s private charter calendar is filling quickly- there are currently about six days available in August and about twice that still open in September. Please remember, the Sea Star never schedules open party trips where individual anglers can purchase a ticket and go out fishing with others for the day. We exclusively offer private charters where you are reserving the entire boat just for your group.

For private charter reservations please call our office directly at 760-966-0111. Please be patient for a return call as we are out on board the boat every day. Good luck and tight lines, Captain Joe

On June 17 the Sea Star experienced it’s first true “El Niño” generated catch . We had 10 hook ups and landed seven Yellowfin Tuna from 25 to 30 pounds each. We looked at numerous other spots of breaking, jumping and feeding tuna but they were very difficult to get to bite. This action took place 15 to 20 miles offshore in the blue warm water of 68 to 70°. On the following two off shore trips we did not hook any tuna. The ones that we did find were not biting. This is the first time ever in the 40 year career of Captain Joe that we actually landed any yellowfin tuna in the month of June!!!

I believe this is just the vanguard of a much larger body of tropical fish i.e. yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, yellowtail and dorado that will make its way up the coast during July, August, September and possibly into the fall of this year.

On June 20—15 anglers on a local inshore three-quarter day private charter caught: 57 calico bass {over 200 undersized bass released), one 5 1/2 foot soupfin shark, 1 sevengill shark (released alive and well) and a remarkable 200 pound giant black Seabass (which was unhooked, photographed and released alive and well). Additionally about a 12 pound yellowtail was being brought to the boat when a large sea lion grabbed it and devoured it whole! The sea surface temperature was 68.3°, it was a clean green and the waters were calm. We had perfect size sardines ( 5 to 6 inches) which the bass found easy to eat.

Now that summer has arrived, I would expect other migratory fish such as bonito, barracuda and more yellowtail to be arriving in our local inshore waters soon.

Please remember the Sea Star exclusively offers private group charters. We do not sell tickets on an open party basis for individual anglers to go out with others for a day of fishing. Advance reservations and deposits are required for all of our private charters. Don’t delay, call us now for your private charter date at 760-966-0111. Tight lines, Captain Joe

On May 30th 20 anglers on a local three-quarter day private charter caught–20 Calico bass, 3 Sand bass and one Yellowtail. The group also landed and released 75 undersized bass and 65 short Barracuda. Mike Stone the groups Charter-master fought and landed a once-in-a-lifetime fish– a 125 pound Giant Black Seabass. We landed it, unhooked it, photographed it and released it alive and well!

We have been seeing and hooking Yellowtail on every trip this past week. It won’t be long now before the larger schools move into our local waters and the bite begins in earnest. The same can be said for the large log barracuda and other migratory game fish like the Bonito.

If the water continues to warm, as it did last year, we may well see Yellowfin and Bluefin Tuna and Dorado visiting our local waters once again.

Our summer charter calendar is filling in quickly. If you’d like to get in on the action please give us a call at 760-966-0111. Thank you. Tight lines Captain Joe

On May 2, 2015 eight anglers on a local half day charter caught– 32 red snapper, 3 copper rockfish and 20 assorted species of rockfish.

Sea surface temperatures were 64 to 65°. There have also been some thresher sharks and mako sharks showing up now in the same deeper water rockfish areas. Additionally, some yellowtail are now beginning to show along the coast in the waters south of Oceanside Harbor.

If you have not yet made your summer charter reservation for the Sea Star please call us as soon as possible as our summer calendar is starting to fill in. Our direct reservation line is 760-966-0111.

We have once again resumed targeting shallow water rockfish on our half-day and three-quarter day private charters. On today’s half-day private charter 4 anglers caught limits (10 each) of rockfish which included many Red Snappers.

As we were bringing up a hooked rockfish a large thresher shark took a very close look at it just 15 feet from the boat. We were not successful in hooking it with a much stronger wire leader. However, this was the first thresher shark we’ve seen in this new season.

Another noteworthy occurrence is the abundance of pelagic red crabs in most of the inshore areas including the Rockfish areas we’ve been fishing. This is another indication of warming ocean temperatures. Present sea surface temperatures are averaging 62.5° to 65°.

Spring is just a few days away! Don’t delay, make your charter reservations now by calling us at 760-966-0111.

Believe it or not it happened again! Two days after hooking, landing and releasing alive and well a 100 pound Back Seabass it happened again! Yes, we once again hooked, landed, photographed and released alive and well another 100 pound Black Seabass. These two once-in-a-lifetime fish were caught 10 miles apart. The most recent one by an angler from Minnesota who never went ocean fishing before.

Our most recent trip on February 3 was a catch and release only trip. We had nonstop action catching and releasing calico bass and sand bass for nearly 4 hours straight. Over 100 bass were released. Ocean sea surface temperatures are now remarkably above normal at 62 to 63°. Large yellowtail in the 15 to 30 pound range are still popping up at times in both deep and shallow waters.

2 anglers on a local half-day private charter caught 6 large Sand Bass from 2 to 6 pounds. They also released 22 undersized Calico and Sand Bass. These two anglers were from Nebraska and Iowa and had never been saltwater fishing before. You can only imagine their surprise and delight when they hooked, photographed and released alive and well a giant 100 pound Black Sea Bass! This truly was the catch of a lifetime for these two former freshwater lake fisherman. As a bonus we also spotted three southbound gray whales.